Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Dec 2019
[Good Against Christmas Mood - Cultural Studies' Readings of a Festival].
Christmas is a celebration with a strong social radiance. It is a vehicle for political positions and debates and thus shows itself to be a controversial cosmos of significance. ⋯ But Christmas is not only unifying, it is also exclusive and creates cultural differences. The aim of the text is to look at the festival in its historical genesis and to critically illuminate Christmas as an ambivalent social phenomenon.
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On August 26 in 1753, Balthasar Neumann's wife wrote a letter to the Abbot of Neresheim describing her husband's disease one week after his death. This article outlines Neumann's medical history and builds connections towards the understanding of diseases in these times. As an example - and probably Neumann's ailment - the gastric cerarcinoma is discussed with special attention in this report.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Dec 2019
[Gastrointestinal complications of the new immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies].
In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPI) have become established as an integral part of drug tumor therapy. They belong to a group of monoclonal antibodies that promote anti-cancer cell immune response. Inhibitory signaling pathways are interrupted by binding to CTLA-4 and PD-1 or PD-L1, which increases the activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and reduces the immunological tolerance to tumor cells. ⋯ Immune-mediated hepatitis is a potential side effect which occurs about 6 to 14 weeks after initiation of therapy. It is usually asymptomatic and characterized by an increase in serum transaminases. Lipasemia, without clinical signs of acute pancreatitis, is a common laboratory finding, which usually has no therapeutic consequence.
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IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an entity first described less than 20 years ago, characterized by tumorous swelling of affected organs. Differentiation from malignant disease, systemic infections and other systemic autoimmune diseases can be challenging. Typical histopathologic findings facilitate a diagnosis in a compatible clinical context. ⋯ Medical treatment usually consists of glucocorticoids, which may be combined with other immunosuppressives. Surgical or interventional treatment may be necessary if complications arise. Since high-quality evidence is lacking for most aspects of the management of IgG4-RD, international collaborative studies are urgently needed.